After a loooong drive....

I finally made it down to Patty and Chuck's new house down in Virginia. Was worried I'd never make it. We got a really late start on Friday and then on the way out of town a friend noticed a nail in my tire. Great!!! So after stopping by Goodyear on the way out of town to have that taken care of, we finally got on the road at almost 7 that night. I had every intention of driving as far as possible to make the rest of the drive on Saturday a little more bearable. I drove until around 11:30 and stopped at a not so nice Lodge, but was cheap and took pets... I called Patty and gave her the 411 on our location in case the boys and I were never heard from again. :) After getting a good nights sleep we got back up and headed out around 6:30. Uneventful drive yesterday thank goodness. It was beautiful out.

Got to Patty's around 4 and was pretty beat from being in the car for so long. Got the 15 cent tour of her house. It's gorgeous, and I love all of her color choices. We hung out for a bit and then took the kids swimming at her old apt complex, they had so much fun. Patty and I were talking about how awesome it is that we haven't seen each other for exactly a year and the kids just pick up like they saw each other last week. We always hope these kiddos have this connection with one another. We've decided it helps since thier Moms do too.

We are hoping to take the kids to a water park today, they are going to be so excited. Will try and get some pics to post on here before I take off. We are all so excited to be here finally.

I love that no matter how far away we move that I know we will always have lifelong friend with the Bartlett's.

Will post more on our adventures later!!!

Late nights....and cell phones!!!

I hate nights like this. It's almost 1:30 in the morning and I should easily be passed out in bed. But here I sit surfing the web wide awake. It's been a long time since I couldn't sleep. Maybe it's the new meds the doc put me on for this allergic reaction thing or maybe it's just me. The boys were having a rough night going to bed tonight and Jack comes out crying how much he misses Daddy and asks if we can call him. Bruce got a cell phone not too long ago and we can now call him when we want. Except that Jack came out at 9:30 which is 4:30 the next morning for Bruce. I kind of gave Bruce a hard time about getting the cell phone actually. But now it seems so worth it. It was so nice to be able to pick up a phone and be able to call him and let the boys hear his voice when they needed to. Even though the boys were still upset when they got off the phone they were able to get to sleep. Bruce was a trooper even though we woke him up. He's such a good daddy!! I thought it would be easy for me to lay down and go to sleep too, but I guess not. Thank goodness for our modern day convienences though, I can't imagine going through this deployment without emails and phone calls.

So does anyone have any good websites for to check out? :)

Father's Day!!!

Yesterday was Father's Day and it was a hard day. Not only do I not get to see my Dad on that special day this year, but my boys didn't get to spend it with thier Daddy either. Add to that it was Bruce's first Father's Day he couldn't pick up the phone to wish his dad a Happy Father's day and to be so far away from all of us who love him so much. It was a rough day on him I'm sure, not that he would ever let us hear it in his voice. We did get to talk to him twice yesterday which was nice and he sounded in good spirits. We had a great service at church yesterday, totally dedicated to our Dad's. It was very emotional for me and for a lot of people there. DJ had a rough time for a little bit but he got through it. Adam and Jack did just fine, which I'm happy for that and sort of sad. It's totally true the old saying "Out of sight out of mind" I'm not saying we don't think about Bruce all the time and we don't miss him everyday, because there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of him or mention him to the boys. But I think for the boys it is just a coping mechanism. It really hit me though when Adam, who believe it or not is the one that has the least emotion when it comes to talking about Daddy brought home his gift from school to send to Bruce. It was a poem that he wrote and in it he says his favorite thing about his Dad is that he only has to be in the Army for 5 more years and then he gets to stay home with him. It broke my heart and made me realize that he is effected a lot by Bruce being gone even if he doesn't show it. I just wanted to wish all the Dad's in my life a very Happy Father's Day and I love you all.

Here is a pic of Bruce that he sent me of him and some local children at a opening ceremony of a youth center for them:

Rough times for 1st BDE

It's only the 9th of June and 1st BDE has already lost 5 soldiers. My heart goes out to all these families and to everyone these losses touch. Which is pretty much everyone I know. When you hear about a death your first instinct is to think of your loved one that is over there. Wether it's your husband, your son, your brother or sister. I know it sounds funny to say I feel lucky. I feel lucky because for the most part my husband stays behind a desk out of harms way 99% of the time. For some of my other friends, thier husbands are in infantry units which is obviously more dangerous. My heart aches for them and what they must be feeling. My good friend's husband is a chaplain and has had to deal with so many deaths since he's been there and though I don't know him really I think of him often and pray for him. For the things he's seen and heard, and what he must be going through as he does memorial ceremonies for these young men and women. I see how it effects his wife and I worry about her, how much she can take. Not only does she have to deal with her husband's safety but worries about his mindset with everything he goes through. She is so strong through it all and I really admire her for that. I know that she couldn't do it without Christ to cling to during this. That's how we all make it through each day. We put our husband's in His hands to protect them and keep them safe. Not only thier bodies but thier minds and thier spirit as well. I know for me personally it makes it easier for me to get up everyday and focus on what I have to do back home, while he is over there.

So to all my fellow Army wives I'm so proud of you all and I love you guys and pray for you and your husband's everyday. HOOAH!!! :)

Saying Goodbye...

Last night I went to a going away party for a friend who is moving to a new Army post, aka PCSing in the Army world. We had a great time sitting around eating dinner and just talking. Someone made a video with pics of our time together with beautiful music. It was just a great time of fellowship. It got me to thinking though of all the friends I've made along the way in this Army journey I somehow signed up for when my husband signed on the dotted line. I've made amazing friends at every post we've been stationed at. This is our 5th duty station since Bruce and I got married.

It's never easy to move to a new place and have to meet new friends. But there is a women's ministry at each of these posts I've been at called PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel) a women's bible study group. I found this group on our 3rd duty station in Maryland. It has truly been a life save for me. You go to this group and it's like you have built in friendships just waiting for you to show up. Obviously you don't always click with everyone, but it's just been so great at how wonderful this group of ladies are.

The ladies at Ft Drum are no different. I've been here for three years and I've made some really great friends, that I know I will be friends with for life. I've been so blessed to have made friends like this at each duty station. To all those friends you know who you are, I love you guys and you all hold a special place in my heart!!!

So to the Voyles family who are leaving tomorrow to thier next chapter in the Army world good luck and know that your family will be missed!!!

The Garden

So I DO NOT have a green thumb. I can't keep plants alive for anything. It's a miracle all three boys are still breathing. :) Just kidding!!! So I had sort of decided not to really do anything with the garden this year, since Mr. Green Thumb himself wasn't going to be here. Well since plans changed so did the garden idea. :)




Bruce spent a lot of time while he was home and the boys were at school working on the garden and the yard. He and the boys planted a garden on the side of the house growing, carrots, radishes and of all things corn. Three of the boys faves. :) Then he took out all the rocks we had before and put in timbers that look really good. He then planted beautiful flowers and he put the bigger rocks in the middle and painted some things around the porch. Then we got a lovely garden statue from Mom & Dad and Jon & Lori, that looks great in there.

So after much hard work this is our garden after Bruce finished it:

Adam turns 7!!!! Where has the time gone?

So my middle son Adam had a birthday this past Sunday, June 1st. He is now a 7 year old, YEAH!!! We sort of ended up celebrating his birthday a few times actually. We had a surprise party for all the three boys the night before Bruce left to go back to Iraq. We figured it was pretty close to all three of theirs and Daddy was home so why not right? :) Here are a few pics from that night:








Then we went home to Indiana and had a celebration with my family. The cousins and uncles and aunt!!! We had so much fun!!! It's always nice being with family on our special days!!! Here are a few pics from that celebration:





Then for his actual birthday, we got up Sunday morning and went to church and came out and it was sprinkling outside. But I said what the hey, let's drive down to Syracuse and hopefully the weather will clear up and we can go to the zoo down there. The one in Watertown is a poor excuse for a zoo. So the further we drove sout the better the weather got. It was a perfect day to go to the zoo. It wasn't busy, it a was a bit cloudy, but still warm. But not so hot you were miserable and the animals were out. So it was a great day and Adam said the cutest thing. We were walking up to the elephants I think and he said " Mommy I just want to thank God for making animals, because if He hadn't made animals there wouldn't be animals for me to love" Is he sweet or what? He got super excited when I told him the Adam in the bible is the one that got to name all the animals, he thought that was really cool. Just goes to show you we picked the perfect name for this kid!!!







Happy Birthday Adam, I love you Sunshine!!!!

Slide Show

Here are a few pics of our month:

Where did May go?

I can't believe I didn't post a single thing in May. It was a busy busy month for us. As some of you know, Bruce's dad passed away unexpectedly the beginning of May and he flew in from Iraq to attend the funeral. Thank you to everyone who sent cards and prayers and good thoughts.

With the heartache of why Bruce had to come home, we did get to spend a few more weeks with him that we weren't expecting. So that was a blessing in disguise. He came home in January for his R&R so we weren't expecting to see him again until Christmas time. It was good for all of use to see him again. I think the boys were starting to get missing daddy crazy, so he came home at a good time.

Bruce and I went to Maine for the funeral for a few days and my dear friend Rachel watched the boys for me. She is such a dear. Then we came home and spent the rest of his 2 weeks leave just hanging out with the boys. We took the boys fishing, to the park, we went out to eat, and we played games. It was so nice to be in a normal family setting again. That is what I miss the most when he is gone, our family time together.

Jack got to do the Drake tradition and got his first shooting lesson with Daddy. Bruce made sue he took each one of them and spent one on one time with them. It was so nice for all of them.

After seeing how rough it was in January when Bruce left and how awful the boys were I thought we needed a change of scenery, as my friend Leslie called it, and I decided at the last minute to go home to Indiana for the long Memorial Day weekend. We actually stayed a few extra days to boot. It was the best decision. The boys had so much fun hanging out with grandma and papaw and thier cousins. And Uncle Jon and Aunt Lori too. Uncle Dan took them to a movie and played football with them and we all played the Wii together. That was fun and made my arms sore the next day.

We took 2 days to drive home and we decided to stop at Niagra Falls to stay the night. DJ had been to the falls a few times and I've never been and neither had the little ones, so we went. We just went to the American side, since we didn't have our birth certificates with us. It was a lot of fun and it was really pretty there. We really want to go back sometime and go to the Canadian side.

I just wanted to give everyone and update with what is going on with us. May was a crazy month for us for sure. The rest of the summer is looking like a lot of the same business. But that is alright with us, if ever there was a time we wanted time to fly it would be NOW!!!

TO all reading thanks for not giving up on me and I will try to be better about updating what is going on here!!!

Have a great week!!!